Sunday, May 1, 2016

The Power of the Internet

Yesterday, after I had some problems with a new electronic device and had to resort to the internet for help I wondered, "What did we do before the internet and forums to help us make our electronics work?" Mostly I think that the internet and all of it's resources are a good thing but today I had a disconcerting experience.

I was on my way home from church and because of the storm, I stopped in a gas station I had never used before to fill up for the coming week. As I was filling a tank a young couple pulled up next to me. She got out and dashed into the store and returned a few minutes later with some oil. They then consulted their tablets to find out where to put it in. I noticed that they hadn't even checked the dip stick before hand. Then she said if it's not the oil, what can it be? More consultation of the tablets. I thought to myself, this is a divine appointment. So I finished my business and walked over to help. I am not a mechanic but I know a lot about cars because I was a paper carrier for a number of years. I can change a tire and do small repairs by the side of the road if need be. I have my tools with me at all times. So I asked what was the matter. The girl answered that the power steering was gone and that they needed to drain the fluid and replace it with new because it was old. I said that was a big undertaking and asked how old the are was. They told me and I looked at the mileage and assured them that their power steering fluid was not old. I asked them if they had checked it, they hadn't. Because they didn't know how she said. Then I asked them about their owners manual. That earned blank stares. The book you got when you bought the car I said. Oh. We looked in the glove compartment and there it was still wrapped in the plastic. Then she thanked me and said again that they were just going to replace the fluid. I could see that I couldn't help because their tablets had a lot more authority than I did. So I advised them to take it to a 10 minute care car location and have it done. As I walked away I heard her say that they needed a turkey baster to do this with. Where do you get one of those anyway?